


Hot Blood and Warm Breath

by Kaza999



Series: Echo Chamber [3]
Category: Skulduggery Pleasant - Derek Landy
Genre: F/M, this was a much better idea in my head than it was on paper, wow val is that seriously all you can think of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-12
Updated: 2013-06-12
Packaged: 2017-12-14 17:26:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/839459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaza999/pseuds/Kaza999
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For Tuesday of Valduggery week--the theme was 'Flesh.'</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hot Blood and Warm Breath

Skulduggery pressed a fingertip to his cheek and eyed himself critically in the mirror. “I really don't like this face.” he murmured.

Valkyrie glanced at him sidelong, biting her lip. “Yeah, you said that.”

“But I don't, _and_ I can't get rid of it.”

“It's not like it's a _bad_ face.” she attempted. 

“No, it's not. It's just an old one.”

To be exact, it was his _original_ face. A run-in with a particularly clever and inventive Necromancer had ended up with Skulduggery very abruptly having a body of flesh and blood again. All Valkyrie had gotten out of the fight was six more inches of hair and three inches of fingernails. Skulduggery ended up growing back an entire set of organs. They still hadn't worked out how any of it had happened yet. 

Ultimately, The end result was that Skulduggery was stuck with an old face that carried far too many painful memories. Valkyrie saw him wince every single time he caught sight of himself in a reflection by accident. 

He'd tried getting to his facade, so he could maybe change the features of his face around a bit to make it more palatable, but he couldn't reach it. The symbols for the spell were carved directly onto his collarbones, which were currently buried under a layer of skin and muscle. 

Valkyrie was silent. There wasn't much she could say about this. It was a problem that wasn't exactly fixable. She put a comforting hand on his shoulder, not liking how warm he felt. It was just so _peculiar_ that he had skin. 

He brushed a strand of his long gray hair away from his forehead and tried smiling at her. She recoiled. “Don't _do_ that.”

His face went thankfully blank again. “Sorry.” he tilted his head to the side. “You would think it would be easier to remember how to do expressions properly. I've no problem recognizing different expressions.”

“I guess it's just one of those things you need to practice at.” she shrugged. 

Skulduggery sighed and looked down at his hands, which trembled ever so slightly. There were thick calluses on his thumbs and the inside of his palms, and the skin was covered in scars. Most of his skin was scarred, to be honest. Valkyrie wanted to ask where they all came from but had a feeling she wouldn't like the answer. 

“There is one good thing about having a face, you know,” she said thoughtfully. “You actually have lips.”

“Is there something wrong with not having lips?” 

She crossed her arms. “I'm not even going to answer that because you _know_ how long it took me to figure out the whole 'kissing someone who only has teeth' thing.”

He raised his eyebrows at her just a bit. She decided not to mention it because every single time he realized he was actually making an expression, something about it went horribly wrong. “You know, just because I have lips and a tongue now doesn't mean I know how to use them.”

“You don't seem to be having too much trouble right now. And anyways,” she smirked and braced both her hands against his shoulders. “That's something else you can practice at.”

She reached up and delicately pressed her mouth against his. The feel of hot flesh under her lips was disconcerting, but she managed. Skulduggery's response was to run his hands down her back and through her hair like he normally did, and he clumsily kissed her back. It was...a strange feeling.

She pulled back, just a bit. “Yeah,” she told him. “You _definitely_ need some practice at that.”


End file.
